We are seeing unusually high temperatures lately that is making the grass grow rapidly. The rough might seem like it is not getting mowed but I assure you we have the mower out there everyday. When it stays this warm for over a week we have to pull out the hoses and water dry spots. The first to show up are in the collars. In the winter we can water these spots once and they remain wet for a lot longer time than in the summer. So bringing out the hose for one day a week still allows us to do other projects on the course.
All of the fairways were topdressed with sand to help with firmness and drainage. This has been done four times a year for almost a decade. The results have been amazing. In the winter when it is wet you can see how soft and muddy the rough is compared to the fairways. When we keep the carts on the path, it is usually because the rough is too wet and there is a potential for carts to get stuck.
Our tree pruning is continuing throughout the course. When the leaves drop, the mistletoe is more noticeable. We will be cutting out all that we can reach with our pole saw in the next month. We are looking into getting a lift so we can get higher into the trees to remove the remaining mistletoe and other unwanted branches.
Sonoma Agronomy 